Moments
by cerealmaker
Summary: A series of short stories (moments) about the lives of the Brooklyn House initiates.
1. Nails

Julian- 16, Shelby-6

((thanks to bandcrazy01 for telling me about that coding error, i had no idea that happened; also thank you for the review!))

Yellow was his favorite color so it made sense that his nails were usually yellow.

Julian had gotten in the habit of coloring his nails. It started off as a joke, something that kept the ankle-biters happy when it was his turn as babysitter. But then he found he quite liked the look of the random colors on his hands. Today, unfortunately, his nails were blue. He'd woken up feeling a little sad and he couldn't pinpoint exactly why.

"Can I paint your nails again?"

Julian looked up from his laptop to see Shelby looking at him from across the room. She was holding a few nail polishes in her hands–ones he suspected she'd either made come to life from her drawings or "borrowed" from one of the older girls.

"Of course, I'm always down to have my favorite girl paint my nails." Julian stood up and walked over to her. Shelby clapped her hands as he sat down to face her.

"What color do you want?" Shelby took one of his hands and looked at the already existing deep blue. "This is very pretty."

"Thank you," said Julian. "And I want whatever you think would look nice on me."

Shelby gave him a toothy grin at that. She'd started losing her baby teeth a while back and there was a gap in her mouth where one of her front teeth should be.

Julian watched as Shelby looked at each color one by one, mumbling to herself and seemingly eliminating choices in her mind. He thought about how she reminded him of his own sister back home. She was around Shelby's age but their mother had decided that she would make the choice when she was of age, just like he did. He couldn't wait for her to learn her own path.

"This one."

Julian focused on Shelby again and he saw she was holding up a polish of gold glitter paint.

"Looks good," Julian complimented her. "You have great taste."

"Thank you," Shelby beamed at him. "Give me your hands."

He obeyed and sat as still as he could while she painted his nails.

There were times where Julian felt homesick. Nearly everyone here did at some point. But with moments like these around every corner, those feelings were soothed. He'd found another home here. He hummed to himself, watching as his nails went from blue to gold.


	2. Avocados

((okay hii; im not sure if that coding error has been fixed (thanks again to bandcrazy01 for letting me know!) because it's fine on desktop but still there on the app; lmk if there's another problem and feel free to provide prompts or something. Y'all know how scarce this fandom is ;-; ))

"I don't see the hype around avocados," Walt watched as Sadie spread the fruit across her toast. "They're probably not even that good."

Sadie paused in what she was doing. "Probably? You mean you've never had them?"

"Well, no, but–"

"No 'buts'." Sadie picked up a nearby avocado and started cutting it open. "You cannot say something isn't good if you've never tried it before."

"I have good instincts," insisted Walt but nonetheless he took the slice. He looked at the avocado for a moment before he popped it into his mouth. Sadie gave him an expectant look.

"Well?"

Walt made a face. "I don't like it."

"Oh, well I suppose not everyone has to–"

"Wait, _I_ like it."

Sadie paused. Then started laughing. "Oh this is so rich."

"This is not a laughing matter."

"I was waiting for something like this to happen."

"Well, we discussed it beforehand, the thing about what we eat, but we knew it wouldn't really be a problem." Walt defended. He caught sight of Sadie's grin. "Stop smiling."

"So do you just suck it up or do you not eat it at all?"

"Depends on the food," Walt thought back to when they'd tried deep fried Oreos. That hadn't gone well.

_This is good! What do you mean, it's 'disgusting'? _Walt had asked.

_Get that abhorrent thing out of my mouth. Why do humans insist on doing this to themselves? _

Anubis hated deep fried Oreos.

"Okay, okay, so who likes what?"

"_I_ don't like it, Anubis does."

Sadie hummed, still smiling like this was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "At least one of you has taste."

"Hey!" Walt protested. He made a face as Anubis said: "Thank you."


	3. Lazy Saturday

Carter- 16, Zia-16 (they are sixteen, going on seventeen, babies it's time to think)

Saturday mornings were usually quiet. Everyone had a long, busy week and they usually took Friday night to chill and Saturday morning to sleep in.

The rare morning people were up and about, taking care of the younger, energetic kids and enjoying the cool morning air.

Carter was usually one of these people, being used to waking up at earlier times. Spending the morning in bed wasn't an ideal option for him. He preferred to get out of bed as soon as he woke up and do something other than laze around. This morning, however, he was sound asleep.

There wasn't anything unusual about the previous night that made it happen. He did the same thing he always did: he'd finished his one and only Friday class, did some light reading, and spent the rest of his night hanging out with some of the other initiates. He had played various games of _Mario Kart_ and _Uno_ before calling it a night.

No, the reason for the prolonged sleep would be the extra source of heat he was currently wrapped around.

Something Carter finally realized when he woke up with a face full of hair. He froze, unsure of what had happened and unsure of what to do. He contemplated just dying of embarrassment when Zia spoke up:

"You snore in your sleep."

Carter's face flushed and he scrambled out of his bed. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know, well I mean–"

"Carter."

"I, uh, don't remember what happened but I swear I didn't plan on it."

"_Carter."_

Carter focused his attention back on his girlfriend, although he still avoided eye contact. "Yeah?"

"It's _alright_. It's more than alright, it's good! Really good, in fact. I mean, it wasn't planned but that's okay. I enjoyed it. First time sleeping together, that's a relationship win."

"Oh," Carter mumbled, face still red. "Well if you're okay with it, then I am too. I don't wanna, you know, make you uncomfortable or anything."

"You could never make me uncomfortable," Zia gave him a warm smile, and held out her hand. "I trust you completely, you know that."

Carter smiled back at her, relief taking over his features. "Okay, good. You're really warm, you know?" He took her hand and held it in his for a moment.

"Comes with being a fire elementalist," Carter let out a yelp as Zia yanked him back onto the bed. "Go back to sleep."

"Big spoon or little spoon?"

"I'll be the big spoon."

Carter assented and relaxed as Zia wrapped her arms around his waist. He supposed there was something very good about lazy Saturday mornings.

((first time sleeping together, what a milestone. I suppose there wasn't anything significant that led to it, just a night of casual video games until they fell asleep. Carter has a new appreciation for lazy mornings. Also, just so you know, Zia is the big spoon most of the time.))


	4. Cake

_Baking is hard_, Carter thought, looking at the cake on the counter.

Carter had decided that for Sadie's fourteenth birthday, he would remake the cake they'd had at her sixth. Except it wouldn't explode this time.

There was just one problem: he didn't know how to bake.

Sure, he could use magic to make the cake, but where was the fun in that? He wanted it to be something he made with his hands as well, rather than something he made easily appear. After all, his parents had made the cake themselves. He would too.

_Okay,_ he'd thought. _It's just a cake. Easy, simple instructions are on the box. I can do this. _

A couple of hours later, Carter came to the conclusion that, no, he could not do this.

He'd used baking powder as a substitute for eggs because he didn't have any eggs and he figured he could just use what he had. At least, google said it was a viable substitute.

It wasn't. The cake tasted like cardboard.

Carter sighed in frustration and decided to start over. He quickly cleaned up the kitchen and headed out for the nearest supermarket.

Damn eggs.

—

When he got back, he had three grocery bags with him. He got curious looks as he walked to the kitchen but he ignored them. Sadie's birthday was tomorrow and he wanted to get it done as quickly as possible so he can surprise her with it.

"Whatcha got there?"

Carter jumped as Sadie walked into the kitchen, setting her eyes on the ingredients on the table. Her eyes lit up when she realized what they were for. "You're making a cake?"

Carter sighed and dragged his hand across his face. "...Yeah."

She frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

"It's just...it's for you but it was supposed to be a surprise."

"Oh," Sadie looked at him weirdly. "I mean it's just a cake, don't feel bad."

"I was trying to recreate the cake from your sixth birthday party. I-uh-kinda messed it up first try."

Realization spread across her face and she grinned at him. "Why Carter, how sweet of you."

"Shut up."

"What a caring big brother I have," She sang out to the hallways, laughing when she heard shouts of congratulations from the next room.

"Ugh, I regret it already."

Sadie stepped forward and took the box of cake mix in her hands. She read over the instructions and hummed. "Alright then. Go preheat the oven and measure the water."

"...You're gonna make your own birthday cake?"

"No." Sadie grabbed a nearby bowl and poured the cake mix into it. "I'm helping my brother recreate a memory. Annoying as it is. He's the bloody pharaoh and can't bake a cake."

Carter rolled his eyes but did as he was told. "It's not as easy as it looks."

"How could you possibly mess this up? All you need are three eggs, a cup of water, some oil, and the mix."

"...I used baking powder instead of eggs."

The incredulous look on her face was almost worth it. "_Why on earth would you do such a thing?_"

"I didn't have any eggs!" He defended. "And I went on numerous sites that said baking powder was a good substitute for eggs!"

"You could've just went and bought the eggs."

"I wanted to get this done as fast as possible so it could be a surprise!"

Sadie snorted, giving her brother a flat look. "Color me surprised."

"Shut up."

–––––––

((_A/N:_ ah, here's some sibling bonding since I needed it today. Feel free to ignore this mini rant:

Sometimes I read Riordanverse confessions that say that they dislike Sadie because of how mean she is to her brother; today i saw someone claim her behavior is toxic. Now, for you lot out there who are only childs, the relationship between Sadie and Carter are one of the most accurate portrayals of sibling relationships there is. It irks me when people claim she's so rude and insensitive to him when 1) he 100% reciprocates that behavior (he insults her, pinches her, does _the same back at her_), 2) she's 13, no one is an absolute saint at 13, and 3) I _**never**_ see this type of criticism and judgement to male characters who are the same way.

If you've read the Harry Potter series, you'd see the sibling relationships between the Weasleys are similar to that of the Kanes. The Weasleys can be mean and rude to each other but they love each other all the same and yet I never see anyone saying that they exhibit 'toxic behavior'. The same goes for characters like Leo and Nico. Some of you embrace and love male characters who are sarcastic and rude and switch up that energy when it comes to female characters who do the same.

That is how my brother and I behave with one another, that is how my friend and _her_ brother behave with one another, it is literally how every pair of siblings I know behave with one another. This isn't unusual or weird, _that's usually how siblings behave_. Emphasis on usually because there _are_ siblings who are incredibly nice to each other. That doesn't mean all of them are.

You're 100% **entitled to your opinion** and you are very much allowed to dislike Sadie if you wish but you cannot claim she is toxic to her brother when she's not. Don't turn her into something she isn't.

\- if you've made it this far or skipped that rant, send some prompts if you can! I'm actually at a loss of what to write next. Sorry for the rant but I did have to get it out somehow.


	5. Uno

Playing a one-on-one _Uno_ game was usually difficult. When the person you're playing with is actually two people in one body? Dreadful.

"I don't know what I did to deserve this." Carter grumbled, picking up four cards. "What color?"

"Yellow," Walt said, grinning at Carter. "Hey, we warned you beforehand."

"That was when I thought you guys were playing as one person," Carter said, putting down a yellow 3 card.

That was true. Carter was more than happy to play a game of _Uno_ with Walt. But then Walt had suggested they make it more interesting by letting him play as two people. And neither of them wanted to pass up that challenge.

So technically Carter was playing with Walt _and_ Anubis in a three person match.

_More like "against"_, Carter thought.

"Is it our fault we have this advantage?"

The order went Walt to Carter to Anubis and back to Walt. Carter was honestly having a hard time remembering who's turn it was and that was cause for some cheating on Walt/Anubis's part.

Anubis put down a yellow +2 and Walt made a face. "Thanks for that." He picked up two cards.

Carter rolled his eyes. "You knew he had that card. You both know what each other has!"

"Yes but I thought he would've saved it as his last card."

"I was going to but I decided it would be more fun to make you suffer," Anubis said. "You were right, this game _is_ fun."

Carter would admit, Anubis wasn't a bad guy. It was a little weird interacting with him on a daily basis, with him being a god and all, but he was cool. Awkward but cool. As much as he was losing big time (he currently had 8 cards while Anubis had 3 and Walt had 5), he enjoyed the moments where he and the others taught Anubis a new human thing.

"Say I lose, which I won't–" Carter shot Walt or Anubis a look when he snorted. "–are you two going to play against each other?"

"Nah, we'll call it a win."

"Then I'm only playing against one person!"

"No, you're still playing against two, we just don't feel like playing with each other after we kick your butt."

"We'll see." Carter put down a plus four. "Color is blue."

Walt–no, _Anubis–_ raised one of his eyebrows. "I believe the color is green." He put down another plus four.

"You're both wrong," Walt said smugly. "Color is still very much yellow."

And _another_ plus four. Walt looked innocently at Carter who refused to be swayed.

He gave them both a shrewd look. "I _said_ the color is _blue_." Throwing down yet another plus four onto the deck, Carter stuck out his tongue out childishly. Finally! A small victory!

"Do humans always cheat at this game?" Anubis grumbled, picking up twelve cards from the deck.

"As long as you don't get caught, anything's fair game."

Walt looked up to give Carter a calculating look. "So you can put a plus-two on a plus-four–"

"_NO."_

* * *

A/N: I'm alive, yes! Sorry for that delay, I probably should've established I have a very disorganized posting schedule. Had a bit of a writer's block and I only just came up with this idea. I was also working on this other TKC story (work in progress, not publishing until I'm done and happy with all the chapters) so my bad ;-;

Hope you don't mind, I'll be kinda exploring how the whole Walt/Anubis thing works throughout this drabble series since it wasn't expanded on and if it was, I didn't know lol. Haven't read the magician's handbook thing sooooo I might be missing some elements. The merging sequence left a bunch of answered questions in my head so these are just things I _think_ would happen.

((you cannot put a plus two on a plus four, just an fyi ;P))


	6. Penguins

Felix gave the girl across from him a calculating look. An absurd expression for an almost-eleven year old to have.

She was new, just arrived today. Sadie and Carter had been showing her around the house and they'd asked him to keep her company since they were the same age.

"_Why not? You could make friends!"_

It made them sound old, putting two kids together because they're the same age. They both knew it too because they grimaced after saying it.

"Why can't Alyssa do it?" Felix had asked. "She's the same age too!"

"Alyssa's busy with a personal project. We thought you wouldn't mind but if you truly don't want to do it, we understand."

No, Felix was not having the best of days. Earlier today, he'd passed by the Great Room and overheard another initiate offhandedly mentioning that penguins weren't that great. Oh no, _he _believed that _wolves_ were the best animals.

Felix wasn't one for confrontation. So after the shock of that statement wore off, he had chosen to spend the rest of the day pouting to himself, turning that statement over and over in his head.

How can someone dislike _penguins_? They were so precious! Amazing! And to compare them to wolves? Of _all_ animals? Wolves can't even waddle. They're not very friendly either. It was no competition!

It was too much for Felix.

But Felix didn't want to disappoint the Kanes. So he pouted and begrudgingly agreed to keep the new girl company.

That declaration kept him lost in his thoughts though.

"So what do you like to do here?"

Felix looked up in surprise, not expecting her to speak to him. The girl, Olivia, looked at him expectantly. They were on the main terrace, eating lunch in silence. Most of the other initiates had already had lunch so there were only a few people sitting at the table, including them.

Felix flushed in embarrassment, having forgotten he was supposed to be friending her. "Oh. I'm sorry, I'm kind of upset about something."

"That's okay. I get mad sometimes too," Olivia reassured. "What are you upset about?"

And then Felix let it out: "This guy said penguins weren't that great! Can you _believe_ that? Penguins are the best animals on the planet! Did you know that there was this race of ancient penguins who were the same size as grown ups?"

"Um–"

"They've been around for, like, 40 million years! Their ancestors lived with the dinosaurs! That's so cool!" He glanced at Olivia and cleared his throat. "The point is, penguins are awesome."

"Can't argue with you there." Olivia turned back towards her half-eaten sandwich. "I think penguins are neat."

Felix faltered slightly. Neat? Penguins were more than neat. _But_ it wasn't an insult. He could take that. It was better than what _that_ guy said.

"They're really cool! My first big magic trick was summoning penguins through the fireplace."

"You can _do_ that?!"

Felix nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I mean, I've taken it down a notch because it was a hassle to bring them back to the Antarctica–" That was pretty disappointing. "—but I can show you right now if you want!"

Olivia grinned at him. "Yeah! Let's go."

Felix was brimming with excitement, already compiling a list of his favorite penguin facts to tell Olivia. That guy and his stupid wolves were the farthest thing from Felix's mind right now.

* * *

**A/N**: yEs, I'm alive, my bad. It's actually been 14 days since the last update, I knowwww. Life's been busy and I've been working on other projects, catching up on deadlines, and being plain lazy. I forgot who, but someone recommended a penguin centric fic with Felix and I tried my best so here's Felix pouting about someone not liking penguins. I'll try to be better on updating, also lowkey kinda hard when I'm running out of prompts.

Usually I start writing something when I've been daydreaming/zoning out and the idea just punches me out of nowhere rather than actually brainstorming. Sorry again and a big thank you very much for reading; it makes my day!


	7. Relief

**A/N:** so if this happened or was mentioned somewhere in the magicians manual: idk, i havent read the manual yet, ordered it from the library so i'll read it later. But here's Walt's mom reacting to him still being alive and not dead like she would've thought. I kinda wanted to know and I was _only_ 1% salty that his family wasn't included in his decision to host Anubis. Seriously! I got over it like a min later. But yeah, here's my interpretation of how it would go down. No 'angst', only relief.

* * *

To say Walt was nervous would be an understatement.

His hands were slightly shaking and the crease his forehead made when he frowned wouldn't go away.

_I don't know much about families,_ Anubis said. _But trust me when I say this will be fine._

Anubis was right: he really didn't know much about families.

_Well screw you too_.

Walt exhaled. _I'm sorry. This just...means a lot._

Mean a lot it did. Here he was, sitting on a bus on its way to his childhood home. It was a week after the whole apocalyptic-snake-tried-to-swallow-the-sun ordeal and there was the nerve-wracking task of informing his mother of his decision to host a god and stay alive.

Walt wasn't going to lie: he hasn't been the best at calling his mother these past few weeks. It was hard on both of them. He didn't want her to see him in near deathly pain and she was all too aware of what was happening.

And now he was going to arrive home, still very much alive and in perfect health.

He didn't know how they would take it.

_I can see your memories you know_, Anubis spoke up.

_What does that have to do with this? _

_It has everything to do with this. I can see how much your mother loves you, how much she cares. She doesn't seem like she would turn you away. _

Walt smiled slightly. _You mean _us.

_Ah right. We're a package deal now. I hope she likes me. _

Walt snorted and said nothing more. Well, he didn't have to. He and Anubis were one, whatever he thought or tried not to think went through Anubis's head anyways. His mother wouldn't react too badly. At least he hoped she wouldn't.

* * *

"Okay, okay." Walt breathed out, standing outside the front door. "You can do this."

He still had his key. Should he knock? Or should he just go in?

_Just walk in and say hello. How bad could that be? _

_Although tempting, not something my mother would appreciate very much._

_Do it anyways._

Walt was grateful that Anubis was withholding control. This was something he had to do on his own and he was glad Anubis was remaining sort of dormant.

Walt reached into his back pocket and took out his house key. He took another deep breath before he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The smell of _home_ hit him like a truck. The smell of the cherry scented air freshener (which his mother always claimed had a "stronger" kick than the others), his mother's lavender scented perfume, the smell of laundry detergent in the air...that's right, it was laundry day. _Gods_, he missed this.

"Hello?" A voice called out warily. "Who's there?"

_Go on,_ Anubis urged.

Walt closed his eyes and took a step back, hitting his back against the front door. This is it. He opened his eyes. "Mom?"

Silence. Then:

"Walt?"

Walt turned around to face the kitchen, watching his mother come out slowly. "Hey, mom."

She didn't answer right away; walking towards him, her eyes trailed his body from top to bottom, watching for any signs of injury or pain. Her brows scrunched in confusion.

She placed one of her hands on his face, the other rubbing his arm soothingly. "You look thin. What have you been eating over there?"

"What I wanted to eat," Walt laughed, slowly relaxing. "I'm eating good, don't worry about that. You don't have to examine me."

His mother gave him a sharp look. "I'll check up on my baby when I want to. Now come on, you haven't visited in a while. Catch me up."

Walt knew his mother was deflecting. He could see the curiosity burning in her eyes after she took him in but she wasn't pushing him.

_Why isn't she asking questions? _Anubis wondered. _Aren't humans naturally curious? _

Walt slightly shook his head, smiling in his mother's direction. _Nah, I know my mom. She's overbearing but even she knows when to let me come to her. _

_Sounds familiar. _

"So…" Mother started. "How's Hogwarts treating you? You learning all types of magic? You said that there was something new you were trying to learn last time you called."

"Yeah." Walt said, taking a cup out of the cupboard. "I can do all sorts of things. That other thing is actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

Walt made a noise of confirmation. Opening the fridge, he peered inside and took out an orange juice carton. "It's...new."

Pouring the drink into the cup, he wondered why he had to say _that_ of all things. '_It's new_', that wasn't a very good opening. What he didn't want to do was delay the reveal like he'd done with the Kanes. Still, he couldn't help but be cautious about it.

Anubis, on the other hand, was amused. _To be fair, it _is_ new. Don't beat yourself up over it, you still haven't even told her the half of it._

Mother frowned at him, wondering why he tense all of a sudden. "What do you mean 'new'?"

"I mean it's probably never been done before." He took a sip of juice before continuing. "And it's also what led me here today."

"Walt, you know how much I don't like beating around the bush. You're making me nervous, what is it?"

"I've been able to...turn objects into dust for a while now. Since March, actually–"

"Around the second apocalypse?"

"–Yeah. I didn't know where it came from or how I've been able to do it but then I started, y'know, talking to this god."

His mom held up one of her hands. "Let me guess: the god of death?"

"Well, he's technically the god of funerals."

"Oh. That's better then."

"Anubis isn't bad or anything!" Walt quickly said. "I was just talking to him, to see if I could...you know–"

"Get more time," His mother finished, sighing deeply. "Yeah, I know. It makes sense, I guess." She trailed off for a moment, a look of apprehension on her face.

Ms. Stone knew her son well. She knew when he was lying, when he was angry, when he was happy, and, like right now, when he was about to tell her something difficult. She'd been overbearing ever since she gave birth to him. The idea of knowing, with horrible certainty, that your child wasn't going to live past their twenties was terrifying on its own, let alone actually living it. A parent should never outlive their child.

Yet, here he was. Healthy, happy, and–dare she say it–glowing. There was that spark in his eyes again, one she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen. He no longer walked like he was in constant pain and had grabbed the juice carton with ease. Something was so _obviously_ different. The last time he visited was back in July and he had looked the exact opposite of how he was now. He always declined to speak about it but she knew he was getting worse every day.

Refocusing, she smiled reassuringly at him. "What else? Did he end up helping you out?"

Walt studied her for a moment before continuing. "Yeah. Yeah, he was helpful. Kind of; he couldn't really grant me extra time but we were thinking of ways to beat the curse."

"_Beat_ the curse? You beat the curse?!"

Walt winced at the pitch in her voice. "Kinda–"

"Walt Stone, if I told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Don't play with me. Spit it out already."

"Mom, it's not that simple. I can't just blurt it out–"

"You're holding back and walking on eggshells. You always do that when you did something bad or when you did something you didn't want me to know about."

"It's not something I can just say outright–"

"Just _say_ it."

"I'm hosting him."

Silence.

"What...what did you just say?"

Walt closed his eyes, trying to force down the wave of fear threatening to bubble up. "I'm hosting Anubis."

"As in _possession_?"

"No, as in we _share_ the same body." No, this wasn't how he planned this to go. This was too much, she doesn't like it, she doesn't approve, oh gods, she's never gonna want to speak to him ever again, what if–

_Walt. Breathe. Just breathe. You and I both know your mother. She was always going to try and push. Relax, she hasn't said anything yet. _

Walt exhaled the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. His mother still hadn't said anything. She was just there, staring at him with a blank expression.

He had no idea what she was thinking.

"His aura is keeping me alive," he tried again. "It's not something you would like but–"

"May I speak to him?"

Walt stopped short. "I–what?"

"Is that how it works? Is he there in your head, hearing and seeing everything and just observing? I want to ask some questions."

Walt swallowed. _She's not gonna go easy on you._

Anubis didn't care. _I was bound to meet the mother someday. Though, I won't do it if you're not comfortable with me doing so. _

_No no, you can do it. Just...I don't know. You know what I mean. _

Walt smiled at his mother and held out his hand. Or, rather, _Anubis_ did. "Hello. Lovely to meet you, Lady Stone."

The woman in front of them was no longer the sweet, overbearing mother. No, she was what any mother would be like in the face of a god who held the fate of her child in his hands: furious.

"Cut the crap," She snapped at him. Anubis reared back in surprise. "Pardon my language, I don't care much for pleasantries when my son's fate is on the line."

Anubis straightened and dropped his hand into his lap, getting the feeling this was less "meet-the-parents" and more of an interrogation. "I assure you his fate is no longer under the influence of the curse. As he mentioned previously, my aura sustains his life. He will most likely live a long, happy life."

Relief shone in her eyes but her face remained stone cold. "And what exactly do _you_ get out of it?"

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me. I've heard stories from all over. The love of my life told me things too. Gods aren't gracious and merciful creatures. No, you only care for yourselves," She leaned towards him with an angry expression. "So I'll ask you again: What. Do. You. Get. In. Return?"

Anubis didn't know how to answer that question. On one hand, he did it for two mortals in his life. On the other, he also did it for the chance to experience the mortal realm and how it felt like to have a host.

_I would help you out but I don't think she'd appreciate it if I took over and answered for you_, Walt said, slightly embarrassed.

_No worries. I'll just...tell her the truth. _

Anubis cleared his throat. "I don't have cruel intentions with this arrangement, I can promise you that. Truthfully, I agreed to the deal for both selfish and unselfish reasons: I would've been helping out someone who'd become a dear friend of mine while also getting the chance to have a host, something I've never experienced that many other gods have. To actually _be_ flesh and blood."

Miss Stone stayed quiet for a moment. Then: "There's something else."

"Uh, what?"

"There's something else," she was quieter this time, less angry. "What's the other thing?"

If someone had told Miss Stone years ago that she would witness the intensity of a fierce blush at work on a literal _god_, she'd have laughed in their faces. A little weird since it was on her son's face but it wasn't any less gratifying.

"I-I, um," Anubis stuttered. "I don't think–it's complicated. I'll let your son tell you that one."

She actually laughed. "Okay, I get it. I'll meet the lovely girl later on." Relaxed now, she sighed, leaning her arms on the island. "I believe you. Truly, I do. I'm just...worried."

"Any mother should be."

"So how does this work? Do you take turns talking? Decide who gets control today?"

"Today it was different but it's just us speaking like we normally would if we were in different bodies again."

"So how do I know when I'm talking to my son or when I'm talking to a god?"

"Mom, you're just gonna have to adopt the god," Walt joked. They were back in their mojo, speaking in tandem. As one. "Seriously though, you're not always gonna know who's talking. I...I hope you're okay with this."

"How could I not be okay with this?" Miss Stone asked disbelievingly. "After you were born, I knew you were going to have the same curse as your dad. I knew you probably weren't going to live to your twenties. You know I've tried _everything_ to fight it, I took you to every professional I could find. I know, I _know_ I've been overprotective and dramatic and I probably didn't make this any easier for you. I know and I'm sorry. This situation isn't conventional but I'm not about to complain about something that's keeping you alive and healthy."

Walt felt a weight lift off his chest, finally allowing him to breathe the way he needed to. His shoulders relaxed and he fully allowed himself to take comfort in his childhood home. "Thanks, mom."

"No need to thank me, just being a mother." Miss Stone leaned forward and smirked. "So, who's the girl?"

The blush was back in full force. "What girl?"

"Oh, come on, don't play with me. Who's this special lady who stole my son's heart?"

"_Mom_," Walt groaned.

* * *

A/N: yAY, two authors notes bc no one can tell me I can't do so! So I really upped my game here bc this one was actually 2.2k words, wowwwww. Part of it bc there was so much to say with a prompt like this (still think there's more to say) and another was bc i felt bad for not updating in a while.

Oooof, I can't go back to writing 500 word chapters anymore, can I? ;-; we'll see, but I really hope you guys enjoyed it.


	8. Affection

For all that pining during those eight months, Sadie and Walt weren't incredibly affectionate.

Well, that's not true. They were, they just didn't show it as much as you'd expect.

* * *

S: 13, W:15

"Sadie."

Walt leaned closer to her when she didn't answer. "Sadie."

They were sitting at the worktable in the library, working on individual things.

Seeing a hint of a smile on her face, Walt continued to call out her name. "Sadie."

Still refusing to look up, Sadie concentrated extra hard on the spell in front of her. He'd been doing this for weeks now, calling out her name and waiting until she looked up at him to make her flustered.

"_Sadie_."

"No," Sadie huffed. "Do your work or else I'll fail you for this class."

"You don't give graded assignments for your classes," Walt reminded her.

"I could always start just to fail you."

They fell back into silence, Sadie writing down her notes and Walt continuing to stare at her. Sadie didn't miss the mischievous looks Walt kept throwing in her direction. Doing her best to ignore him, she bent her head closer to the papyrus.

"...Hey," Walt piped up after a moment.

"Yes?"

"You're cute."

The resulting fierce blush was worth the failed writing assignment he received later that week.

* * *

S: 14, W:16

"Walt!"

Walt looked up as his girlfriend walked into the library excitedly, holding something behind her back. "Hey, what's that?"

Sadie grinned up at him. "A surprise. Guess what it is!"

"This would be easier if you just gave it to me." He took one of her hands and held it. "But I'll bite: a rock?"

"A rock?" Sadie frowned at him. "Why on earth would I give you a rock?"

"Why _wouldn't_ you give me a rock?"

"Fair point but you're terrible at this." She took out what she'd been holding behind her back and beamed at him. "Surprise!"

Walt blinked at the bouquet of flowers being offered to him. It was a mixture of all different types: roses, sunflowers tulips, lavenders, and a lot more.

"What...what is this?" He took it out of her hands, all too aware of his cheeks heating up.

"I was in the park earlier today with some of the girls and I saw all these flowers and thought, 'Hey, wouldn't it be nice to give these to your boyfriend?' So I did!"

Walt took a purple orchid out of the bunch and put it in the middle of Sadie's high bun. "You know, you're probably not allowed to take the flowers."

She shrugged at him. "Probably not but I replaced them right after so I'm still getting a good afterlife."

"You definitely are." He leaned down and kissed her on the head. "Thank you."

* * *

S: 16, W: 18

"Well, well, well, who knew that people who host gods and wield magical powers could still get sick?"

The sarcasm was not lost on Sadie but she stubbornly refused to look at him. "It's supposed to be in the guidelines!"

Walt tsked at her. "I'll go see if Jaz has something for you to take. _Stay_ in bed."

Sadie just groaned in response and laid his head back against the pillow.

_I hate being sick. _Sadie thought grouchily. "Ugh."

It was flu season and interacting with dozens of people every day probably didn't help prevention. Though, Sadie doubted she actually had the flu: perhaps it was just a cold.

And Walt, instead of being the sweet caretaker, was being incredibly petty throughout all this. Oh he was taking care of her alright, but obnoxiously so.

"_Just a reminder of everything you did for me when I was sick!"_

Rude boy.

Speaking of the devil, the boy himself walked back into the room slowly, carrying a bowl in his hands. He closed the door with his foot. "Here." He placed the bowl on the coffee table.

Sadie nodded at the bowl. "What's that?"

"Hot soup, which is apparently good for when humans have the flu."

Sadie stood up and walked towards the bowl. "It's not the flu, it's just a cold."

"Tomato, potato."

"That doesn't make sense." Sadie pointed out. "Did Jaz give you anything?"

"Yup." Walt took a bottle of liquid Tylenol out of his back pocket. "Remedy for the common cold is the common medicine."

Sadie made a face. "No."

"No?"

"No." She sat down on the futon and put a pillow on her lap. Putting the bowl of soup on top of the pillow, she elaborated: "Liquid medicine is just about the nastiest thing I've ever tasted in my entire life."

"This coming from a girl who uses potions that taste worse on a regular basis?"

"That should tell you something about how horrible it is." At Walt's flat look, she relented. "Alright, alright, give it to me."

"Nope, you have to eat the soup first before you get the medicine."

"Sounds incredibly cruel but whatever."

* * *

"_Gods_, that's disgusting!"

"Lady Kane, be reasonable!" Walt exclaimed, putting the Tylenol away. "It is not that bad! You're always so dramatic."

Sadie scowled at him. "You try it then."

"I can't because I'm not sick." Walt responded, sticking his tongue out at her. "Been there, done that. C'mon, go to bed."

"I'm not tired," Sadie waved him off. "I'm down to play some games though." She flopped onto the couch and turned on the T.V and the switches. "Smash?"

Walt grinned at her. "Sure but say it again." That earned him a flick on the head. "Hey! What, it sounds cute when you say it!"

"I sound like what every other British person sounds like." The consoles already had the game set within it. "I'm not playing with you if you pick Yoshi again."

"Fine, just as long as you drop Zero Suit Samus."

Sadie scoffed. "No way, she's so pretty and her skills are cool. You're just afraid of her power."

"Pretty is what you judge the characters on?"

"You'd notice that all the pretty characters are the ones I win with. I can kick your arse and look good doing it."

"'I can kick your arsh and look good doing it'," Walt mocked. "Tell it to the game after I kick your _ass_."

* * *

S:19, W:21:

The sound of cheers around her interrupted Sadie's thought process. Groaning in frustration, she deleted the incomplete sentence and looked up from her laptop to catch up on the game in front of her.

Her second year of college was not treating her so well. She had a five page paper due in about two hours, midnight. Realistically speaking, finishing it at a basketball game probably wasn't the ideal thing to do.

Their team was down by two points; it was a close game, alternating between who's in the lead. Sadie was half paying attention and half thinking of a way to close her research paper.

_I knew I should've picked an easier concentration_, Sadie grumbled in her mind.

A loud buzzer sound rang above her and she saw the coach blow his whistle. Half-time.

"How's the paper going?" Walt asked, materializing next to her.

Unfazed, she responded, "Not so good. I can't figure out how to end this properly."

Leaning over, Walt gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "You know you don't have to be here, right? Go home and finish your paper, I'll check up on you later." Even as he said it, he couldn't deny that her watching his game made him feel all warm inside.

Sadie shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm here because I support you...and because I like watching you play." She exhaled and leaned her head against Walt's shoulder. "Besides, the game won't last until midnight so I have plenty of time to work through this small bit of work."

"Thank you, milady."

* * *

**A/N**: the writing here is _terrible_ but i liked writing it nonetheless bc it gave me the feeeeels. Also because it reached 1000+ words and I didn't have to put a lot of effort into writing transition scenes since it was just one moment to the next. And yeah, these were random scenarios that popped into my head.

If you're curious about some things:

-Walt and Sadie [would] go to Hunter College (within NYC) as a senior and sophomore respectively

-Walt _does _play, most likely in a club sport deal rather than professionally.

-I headcanon that Sadie majors in Physics and Astronomy; as much as she doesn't like to work, I'd like to think that she takes after her mom and becomes the science person of the family while Carter has the history side. It's been shown here and there that she's partial to the science stuff over some magical explanations so it's not a complete reach. I'd like to think of her as a space girl, even if she stays working in magic, she'd be curious as to what exactly lies beyond the earth.

-yES they do these gestures to each other all the time. It's not as obvious as PDA (though according to the magician's manual, they do that too) but they do little things that show their affection for one another, because relationships aren't only (if at all) about physical stuff.

-let's please normalize giving boys flowers and chocolates and stuffed animals, etc., trust me, they deserve it too

I've had this chapter and another one incomplete for a while now, I just could never figure out how to move forward smh; until the next time!


End file.
